Americans tomorrow make a fateful choice: Will they continue down the path to terminal indebtedness and endless economic decay — or will they try something different, something more hopeful?

Will they vote for Mitt Romney?

We hope so.

Because we believe Romney will bring the leadership America needs to ignite the economy and to confront dire challenges abroad.

In vivid contrast to President Obama.

We understand why voters placed their faith in Obama four years ago: He vowed change and offered hope.

Alas, it was a promise that went unfulfilled. Leaving Americans bereft of hope.

Today, unemployment, 7.9 percent, is higher than when Obama took office. For 43 straight months, the official jobless rate hovered above 8 percent. Worse, thousands have given up on finding work altogether.

Hope? Nowhere to be found.

Change? Not for the better.

Jobs truly matter in this election.

Obama has been unable to produce enough. His strategy of borrow-and-spend (to the tune of trillions) has failed. His focus on regulation and redistribution only slowed growth.

Meanwhile, he’s left a $16 trillion fiscal hole. Those on the dole, especially food stamps, have soared in number.

And now he’s threatening hefty new tax hikes on job-producers, the middle class and small businesses, though he pretends they’re aimed solely at the rich.

Forget about jobs. Instead, Americans will get big-government health care, which is sure to drain hundreds of billions from the economy and snuff out even more jobs. (Even as it worsens health-care.)

Nor has Obama proved able to meet challenges abroad — or restore confidence in America, as he promised.

Romney represents true hope.

True change.

True leadership.

He proved himself more than competent as Massachusetts governor, working with a Democratic legislature and plugging a $3 billion budget hole — while holding down taxes.

He takes pride in his record.

He knows what works to get the economy chugging. (Hint: It’s not tax hikes.)

Beyond America’s borders, Romney will work to do what Obama vowed to do but failed: “restore America’s standing.”

Allies, under Romney, will again feel able to rely on America’s friendship; enemies will no longer see the nation as spineless.

The Midde East — in particular, Israel — will know where it stands.

So, too, we expect, will Iran. As will al Qaeda — in Benghazi and elsewhere.

In the end, the choice is not merely between two men, but two philosophies.

The president sees government as a guarantor of personal outcomes, even if it erodes growth and stifles jobs — and guarantees nothing.